STAR WARS Trilogy: All time favorite of ours. We always watch the trilogy every Christmas season. This is our tradition that the Force of love & care be always with us!
Starring: Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader
Director: George Lucas
Year: 1977
The Star Wars Trilogy had the rare distinction of becoming a cultural phenomenon, a defining event for its generation. On its surface, George Lucas's story is a rollicking and humorous space fantasy that owes debts to more influences than one can count on two hands, but filmgoers became entranced by its basic struggle of good vs. evil "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," its dazzling special effects, and a mythology of Jedi knights, the Force, and droids. Over the course of three films--A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983)--Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the roguish Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join the Rebel alliance in a galactic war against the Empire, the menacing Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), and eventually the all-powerful Emperor (Ian McDiarmid). Empire is generally considered the best of the films and Jedi the most uneven, but all three are vastly superior to the more technologically impressive prequels that followed, Episode I, The Phantom Menace (1999) and Episode II, Attack of the Clones (2002).
Everyone loves the first three Star Wars films, and justifiably so. Equal parts adventure and cultural event, the films literally defined the youth of an entire generation. You can talk to other people of a certain age by using Star Wars lingo like a second language.
However, you need to be fully aware of what you are buying if you buy this DVD set. You are not getting the original 3 Star Wars films, simple as that, despite the marketing efforts to the contrary. In fact, you are not even getting the 1997 'Special Edition' versions, where a variety of changes were made to the effects and, some say, to the plot itself. You are getting the 1997 versions with EVEN MORE CHANGES MADE. Again, some may be minor, some not..it all depends on your adherence to the original films (for example, rumor has it that Return of the Jedi now has Hayden Christensen from Attack of the Clones in it).
Personally, I want the original, untouched films. However, even those of you who don't mind CGI inserts and such should be advised: what you're buying now may well be out of date in a few years if everything just gets revised again. Then what's left? It's not the original films, it's not the current "definitive" version..it's just Star Wars 1.1.0.
Rate: 11/10
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